The Next Generation
by kodencegray
Summary: Flash forward 25 years in the future: Gabriel Agreste is behind bars after being defeated as Hawkmoth, Marinette and Adrien retire from being Ladybug and Cat Noir, the two are happily married and live in the Agreste mansion, they have three kids- Emma, Louis, and Hugo. But one day, Emma Agreste comes across a pair of ladybug earrings...
1. Chapter 1: First Day

Hello beautiful people! I had an idea about what would happen 25 years in the future where Marinette and Adrien retire from being Ladybug and Cat Noir because Hawkmoth was defeated. But also, what if Emma, Marinette and Adrien's daughter, finds the ladybug miraculous... I'm still writing "Miraculous Day", but updates might turn into weekly ones because I'm simultaneously writing two fanfics (probably not a good idea, but #YOLO!) Enjoy :3

* * *

 **Prologue**

* * *

"Come on, Mari, take them off," Adrien gently coaxed in his wife's ear, "It's okay, we'll see them again." Marinette shifted her weight to the side, cupping her dainty hands over her earrings.

"Marinette," Tikki softly spoke, "It's time to move on. You've been Ladybug for twelve years now, and with Hawkmoth behind bars, Paris is safe. You have a life to live…without the weight of Paris on your shoulders. It's not like it's the last time we'll see each other." The petite red kwami floated before the bluenette and smiled brightly at her. But Marinette couldn't bring herself to remove her miraculous, not after wearing them since she was first chosen to wield their power twelve years ago. Adrien squeezed her hand as he knelt down in front of her; she still sitting on the couch in their living room.

"I just," Marinette's lip quivered as she fought back the tears, "I don't wanna say 'goodbye'." Tikki immediately zoomed up to her charge's face and wiped away the salty tears that streamed down her freckled cheeks. The blue-head glanced at the coffee table in front of her and studied the two hexagon boxes: one was closed shut and one was open and empty.

"Don't think of it as saying 'goodbye', think of it as 'see you soon'," the ladybug creature suggested, nuzzling up to the woman. "Besides, maybe next time I'll get to see this little guy," she floated down and hovered above Marinette's large belly, "I think it's only fair, being that I _sort of_ met the other two."

Marinette let out a weak chuckle and weary smile in attempt to hide her upset, remembering that she was due in about a month. It's a good thing Hawkmoth was no more, else she swore she could've been akumatized. Her bluebell eyes lingered back to the floating kwami and released a heavy sigh. She let her gaze trail over to her husband, who crouched before her, comforting her. Marinette didn't know how Adrien was able to take off his ring without getting worked up about it. Maybe it's a guy thing…

"Mari," the blond snatched her attention away from her thoughts, redirecting it to himself. When the bluenette met his emerald eyes, she smiled sadly as he nodded and looked to her miraculous.

"I'll see you soon, Tikki," she whispered to the red kwami as she pulled off her earrings, making the tiny bug creature disappear. Marinette slowly placed the ladybug print earrings in the small box and shut the lid, then set it down next to the other. Adrien jumped up to join her on the couch and embraced her in a tight hug as she sobbed into his shoulder. Their hold was short-lived, as it was interrupted by two crying voices coming from upstairs. Marinette pulled away from the cuddle and wiped her eyes clean of any tears before sighing, "And that signals nap time is over. While I get Louis and Emma, could you…you know…"

"I'll…put them away, don't worry," Adrien smiled lovingly at the beautiful woman before him, knowing it would be too hard for her to hide the miraculous boxes. Even though he didn't show it, the blond was just as upset as Marinette, but he had to stay strong for his wife. He scooped up to two hexagon boxes and held them close to his heart before walking out of the room.

* * *

 **Chapter 1- _Thirteen Years Later_**

* * *

"Morning, dork!" Emma shouted in her brother's face, but didn't get a response from the sleeping bluenet, "I said…MORNING, DORK!" Louis rolled over in his covers, groaning as he buried his face in his pillow.

The brunette girl with bluebell eyes leapt away from her big brother's bed and grabbed a pillow off of her younger brother, Hugo's, bed. Even though they lived in a fancy mansion, Hugo and Louis still wanted to share a room…well, more like Hugo wanted to share the room. Louis would much rather have his own bedroom, but as long as it keeps his brother happy, he's willing to bunk with the little blond. From across the blue-painted room, Emma chucked the pillow at the sleeping boy's head, erupting a shrill from him.

"Hey! What the heck, Em?!" Louis quickly sat upright and threw the pillow back at his sister, glaring his emerald green eyes at her. He brushed his blue bangs out of his face and grunted when he rubbed his eyes free of any sleep.

"Mom says we're gonna be late if you don't get your lazy butt out of bed," Emma stated as she folded her arms very matter-of-factly. Louis raised his eyebrows and gave her a dry, unamused look. "Her words, not mine…anyway, I'm not gonna be late on my first day of tenth grade because of _you_. Even Hugo is up and ready; he's excited for school, too, so why aren't you?"

"Because," the bluenet retorted as he swung his legs over the side of his twin bed, now sitting on the edge of the bed, "Eighth grade isn't the same as eleventh grade. If he were in high school, he wouldn't be excited either—trust me." He pushed off his bed and groggily made his way to his chest of drawers, where he pulled out a red graphic t-shirt, white button-up shirt, and a pair of blue jeans.

"I'm excited…" she muttered under her breath.

Emma studied her brother's demeanor as he pulled his pants on over his boxers and changed out of his white, night shirt for his red one, then slipped on the white shirt as a jacket. Louis looked himself over in his full-length mirror and rolled up his white sleeves to his elbows and brushed off his jeans. He ran a hand through his messy dark blue hair, which was styled long on top and short on the sides. Louis caught his sister's stare in the reflection and was about to ask what she wanted when she opened her mouth to speak.

"Why don't you wanna go? I mean, you're clearly putting forth an effort to look nice," the brunette cooed, swinging her hands behind her back to look innocent. Louis scoffed and shook his head before looking back at himself in the mirror.

"I bet you money Robin's gonna be in my class again," he grumbled, not looking at Emma, "He's just so…ugh!" The girl with the piercing blue eyes stared in horror at her brother's exclamation.

"Why are you acting like it's a bad thing?" Emma demanded, crossing her arms, "I would _love_ to have him in my class…that is, if we were in the same grade."

Louis rolled his eyes in disgust before voicing, "I don't get why you like him. He's a jerk and-"

"He is _not_ a jerk!" the girl countered, "At least, not to me." The blue-haired boy spun around to face his little sister with his hands on his hips. He somewhat towered over Emma, making her gulp, but the intimidated feeling fled her system when she furrowed her brows and strengthened her glare.

"And how would you know that? You never talk to the guy!" Louis smirked, a devilish look in his eyes. Emma's glare dissipated as she took a step back and dropped her arms by her sides in defeat.

"Touché."

Louis looked at Emma thoroughly for the first time and noticed what she was wearing. A white peasant blouse with frilly sleeves that came to her elbows and a baby pink, strapless, tube top over it. She wore black jean shorts that came halfway down her thighs and white, ballet flats. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail at the base of her neck, her long bangs framing her face just below her jawline. "You're wearing _that_?" Louis quipped while gesturing to her outfit.

"What's wrong with ' _this'_?" she asked, slightly annoyed, "Mom put a lot of hard work into it."

"I'm just saying it's pretty…um…fancy?" Louis didn't want to give his sister the wrong idea by saying it was a bit much for school, but knew she would explode and rant about how he was wrong. If there's one thing he learned from his fifteen years with Emma, it's that she hates being told off for something and she will do everything in her power to prove whoever does so wrong.

Before the brunette could respond to the green-eyed boy, Marinette called up the stairs for them, "Emma! Louis! Hurry up, please! Hugo's already left for his school, so you need to get going!" The brother and sister's eyes grew wide as they bolted down the grand staircase that lead to the marble foyer.

When their feet touched down on the main floor, they were greeted by Adrien and Marinette each holding their backpacks. Marinette was wearing an oversized, dark gray sweater with a pale pink pencil skirt and white heels with pink polka dots on them. Her hair was done up in a messy bun on the top of her head and her blue bangs were loosely curled to frame her face. Adrien wore a blue button-up shirt and jeans with a brown belt and shoes to match. He had his hair similarly done to his son's, with it being shorter on the sides and long on top—he also had to use product to keep his blond locks from falling into his peridot eyes.

" _I_ was ready," Emma chirped, but then looked menacingly at her brother before saying, " _He_ was the one holding me up." She took her backpack from her mom, slung it over her shoulder and gave her parents each a kiss on the cheek before heading towards the massive doors.

Louis grumbled to himself about having to walk to school with Emma as he took his bag from Adrien. The bluenet hoisted the backpack on his back and made his way towards his sister, who was impatiently waiting for him to get a move on. He trudged over to her and was about to walk out the door when the blond man called out.

"You forgetting something, Lou?" Adrien chuckled as he folded his arms and held back a smile. It was then Louis looked down at his feet to see he wasn't wearing any shoes, provoking an annoyed groan to pour out of the boy's mouth. He dashed back up the steps to his room, leaving the three Agreste's in the foyer of the mansion.

"Well, I'm leaving without him," Emma spoke up flatly, "I refuse to be late on my first day." And with that, the brunette slipped out the door and headed for the gates.

"She may look like you, but our Emma definitely did _not_ inherit your time management skills," Adrien joked, earning him a giggle from his blue-haired wife. It was true…Emma looked exactly like Marinette, except for the fact that Emma had brown hair like her grandfather, Tom, and a warmer skin tone like Adrien. Also unlike Marinette, Emma was very particular about schedules and hated being late for an event. The bluenette rested her head on his shoulder as the two watched their daughter round the corner and make her way to the high school.

"Remember when we met on our first day of sophomore year?" Adrien mused.

Marinette sighed happily, remembering their misunderstanding when they first met each other. Before she knew it, an open packet of gum was held in front of her lightly freckled face. Marinette flashed a squinted glare at the blond, making him jiggle his eyebrows and force the gum packet closer to her. The bluenette swiftly pulled out a piece of gum, unwrapped it, and popped the pink mass in her mouth. The two stared at each other cheekily before leaning into a tender kiss.

* * *

"Ah, glad you could join me," Emma smirked when Louis ran up to her, panting. His usual sun-kissed face was beat-red and dripping with sweat droplets as he continued gasping for air.

"I ran…all the…way…" he said between breaths as they approached the high school. Louis had to stop again and put his hands on his knees so he could catch his breath. Emma abruptly stopped next to him as well, but for a different reason…one which involved him receiving an elbow to the ribs from the brunette.

"There he is! Should I talk to him? Should I just smile? I know! Will you talk to him for me?" Emma jittered as her brother groaned in pain.

"Who?" Louis asked, still breathless, not looking at what caught his sister's attention.

"Robin, you dummy!" she whacked him up-side the head as she said so, causing the bluenet to wince slightly. He really should be used to his sister's method of getting her point across by hitting him. "Ugh…too late, he went inside," she pouted as she skipped away from her gasping brother.

"You…go ahead…" he panted, "See you…at lunch."

Emma practically danced up the stairs to the main entrance of the school when two brunets caught her eye. "Yo, Lahiffe!" The two boys turned around with wide grins plastered on their faces.

"Yeah," both tan boys said in unison. One had long, wavy, brown hair that stopped just above his shoulders and had warm golden-brown eyes that were hidden behind a pair of big, rounded square glasses. He wore a blue polo shirt and a pair of khakis that came to his ankles, as well as a black and white hound's-tooth bowtie and black sneakers. The other wore a rusty orange hoodie with an exclamation point on it and light-wash jeans, as well as white sneakers. His hair was buzz-cut on the sides with a little length on the top of his head. He had hazel-green eyes with a freckle right under his left eye.

"Emma Agreste! Yes, slay, girl!" the boy with the longer hair sang, embracing her in a bear hug.

"Mathéo," she giggled, "It's been 'too long'!" Even though they had just seen each other yesterday, the two loved to be dramatic with one another. After all, Mathéo was the best in the theatre club. Emma pulled back from the hug and turned to the other boy in the hoodie. "Pascal, you cut your hair and ditched your glasses in the last twelve hours I didn't see you?" Pascal blushed and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Well, Em, it's the start of sophomore year and I wanted a change. So I kissed the long locks goodbye and got contacts. I mean, they're _super_ uncomfortable, but this way the teachers might be able to tell us apart this year," the tan boy smiled smugly.

"Plenty of people can tell you and Mat apart," Emma assured, resting her hand on his shoulder, causing the brunet to blush. "I can tell you and your twin apart," she turned and winked at Mathéo who enjoyed watching this scene go down, especially the way his identical twin ogled over Emma. She didn't know it, but one of her best friends had a massive crush on her and was desperate to get out of the friend-zone.

Pascal shrugged out of his friend's touch, instantly missing the warmth of her hand, but was quick to smile brightly at her as soon as her hand fell from his shoulder. Emma immediately remembered Mat telling her about his three-month anniversary date with his boyfriend, Fabrice.

"How was your special dinner with Fabrice yesterday?" Emma asked, turning to face Mathéo. Mat's face lit up with child-like glee as he spun around before taking her by the hands.

"Oh, Emma Agreste, it was simply wonderful!" he mused, spinning her around in circles, "Your candle-lit dinner idea was perfect for my handsome boy and me!" Mat had called her last night, freaking out about what to do for his date with his boyfriend, so she suggested a simple dinner date. Simplicity can be the best option, especially when it comes to romance…at least that's what her parents say.

Pascal watched his best friends dance around together and couldn't help but to join their rejoice. They had been friends since they were in diapers because their parents had been best friends since high school. The trio's fun was short-lived when the bell rang, signaling they had roughly five minutes to get to class.

"Shall we, Lahiffe…and Lahiffe?" Emma joked, jutting her elbows out to the side as she stood in between the two boys. Mathéo didn't hesitate to link his arm with her on her left while Pascal looped his arm around hers on her right. The three nodded to each other before entering through the school's main entrance as other students filed in.

* * *

Louis lugged himself into the classroom and found his usual seat in the back of the classroom where he sat alone. As soon as he sat down and pulled out his notebook, a large hand slammed down on the desk in front of him.

"Hey, if it isn't Lou-ser Agreste!" the large boy growled. He was about as tall as Louis, but was more muscular, which is no surprise being that he's the school's MVP. He wore a yellow short-sleeved hoodie with a white lightning bolt on the front and black athletic pants with two white stripes down the sides as well as name brand sneakers. His light brown hair was some-what wild and his dusty rose streak in the front shone when the light hit it.

"What do you want, Robin?" Louis grumbled, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms in annoyance. Robin's gray eyes flashed with amusement at the blue-haired boy's response.

"All alone again this year, huh Lou-ser?" the athlete teased.

"Why don't you go bother someone who would actually care about what you say?" Louis fired back, squinting his green eyes at the buff guy hunching over him. Robin scoffed and turned around to march to the front left row in the classroom, where he plopped down next to a girl Louis didn't recognize.

"Well, hey there," Robin smirked at the girl, "Haven't seen you before…are you new?" The girl groaned in response as she put the book she was reading down, then glared her hazel eyes at the boy who interrupted her.

"If you must know, I am," she responded, clearly irritated.

"Heh, well maybe I can show you around the school some time," the athlete smiled smugly at the junior. She rolled her eyes and folded her arms at him.

"Thanks, but no thanks," she deadpanned as she gathered her belongings, shoved them in her backpack, and removed herself from the seat. She looked up to see all the other seats were filled, except for one in the back right side of the aisle. Casually, the girl climbed the stairs and approached the bluenet. "This seat taken?"

Louis shook his head dumbly as the beautiful stranger sat down to his left. She was a vision of loveliness, from her long reddish-brown hair, to her sparkling hazel eyes, to her olive skin, to her bright smile. She was wearing a coral dress that came to her knees and an earthy-brown cardigan as well as brown ankle boots. Her hair was done in a half-pony in the back, so her hazel eyes were clearly visible.

"I-I-I'm Louis," the blue-head stuttered as he extended his hand to the girl.

"Geneviève," she shook his hand and smiled warmly at the bluenet.

"So, um, you're new?" Louis asked, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah, I literally just moved here two days ago with my aunt," Geneviève replied, taking out her book again.

"Oh…cool," Louis said as he scratched the back of his head, trying to think of what else he could say to her, "Sorry about Robin, he's a jerk…"

"I picked up on that," she giggled, then her expression went blank before a smirk wandered onto her lips, "Would you like to get lunch together today?"

* * *

Marinette rested her feet up on the coffee table as she flipped through her fashion magazine. She thought it was a bit egotistic being that her fall fashion line was featured on the cover, but Adrien assured her it wasn't.

"Babe, you should've had me model that," Adrien joked as he leaned over the bluenette's shoulder and pointed at the man modeling a jacket.

"What happened to 'no more modeling', Mr. Stay-At-Home-Dad?" she smirked, bopping her finger on his nose. Before the blond could respond to his wife's comment, Marinette's cellphone buzzed in her skirt's pocket.

"It's Nino," she informed her husband as she pulled her phone out and pressed the answer icon. "Hey, Nino!"

 _"Mari, turn on the news right now!"_ Nino shrieked. His voice was laced with a sense of urgency and panic, causing Marinette to flinch.

"Why? Did Alya slip up again?" she joked.

 _"Just turn on the news!"_ Marinette did as he said and grabbed the remote to change the television to the news channel.

The blue-haired woman grinned as the image of her best friend reporting from a Parisian street flashed on the the screen. She didn't listen to what she was saying, but noticed Alya's face was lined with worry as she gripped her microphone tightly. Adrien picked up on his brunette friend's demeanor and scooched closer to Marinette, wrapping his arm around her. That's when they saw the headline and their blood ran cold: 'Gabriel Agreste Breaks Out of Jail'.

* * *

 **What do you think? Do you want me to continue this fanfic? I would love to see what you think of it in the reviews! (Side note: Mathéo, Pascal, Robin, and Geneviève are all original characters; I wouldn't consider Emma, Louis, and Hugo original characters because they were technically in an episode...but I'm putting my spin on them and how I think they would act.) Toodles! :D**


	2. Chapter 2: Lunch Break

Hello beautiful people! Whoa...this chapter is beyond late...sorry for the super slow update. I've been busy with school and my other fanfic "Miraculous Day"; I guess that's what happens when you write two simultaneously. Anyway, I _did_ decide to continue this story, so here you go! Enjoy! :3

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

* * *

Emma sat to the right of Pascal in the front row of the chemistry lab; across the aisle, Mathéo sat to the left of a blonde girl with brown eyes. The purple-haired teacher was talking about her classroom policies and was simply boring Emma to death. She didn't know how Pascal hadn't nearly fallen asleep like she and Mat had.

Finally, the bell rang, ending the period class and the students began to eagerly file out of the lab classroom. Emma and Pascal joined Mathéo with their bags hoisted on their backs and they walked out together.

"Can you believe that fossil had our _parents_ in her class? I mean, you think she'd retire after all that time!" Pascal spoke up, killing the silence between the three. While Mathéo giggled at his brother's joke, Emma tried to hold back a chuckle and replaced it with an obviously fake disappointed face.

"That's not very nice," she voiced before a mischievous smile spread across her face, "…her old bat ears might hear you!" The twins erupted into a fit of laughter at their brunette friend's joke, Pascal wiping a tear from his eye. While Emma took pride in making her friends laugh, she caught a glimpse of blue out of the corner of her eye. "Louis! Over here!" she waved her hands above her head, flagging her brother down from the base of the steps.

Louis craned his neck and looked down from the railing to see his sister flailing her arms in the air, trying to catch his attention. He sighed before descending the staircase and meeting up with the brunette. "What?"

"What do you mean 'what'?" she mimicked him by making her voice deeper and puffing out her chest. "Lunch, remember? Pascal and Mathéo are joining us, by the way."

"Actually," the bluenet piped up, "I have plans…I'm having lunch with Geneviève."

"Who?"

"This _really_ pretty new girl…it's not important," Louis shrugged, "I just won't be eating with you today, maybe tomorrow?" Emma pouted and made her eyes look sad and full of hurt. She knew her baby doll eyes always bested him into getting what she wanted from her brother…it worked when they were kids, anyway. "Oh, come on! We had lunch together practically all of summer! Besides we have dinner and most breakfasts together, too!"

"Ugh, fine," Emma groaned, "But I expect you to join us tomorrow." She scowled at him before grabbing the Lahiffe twins by the arm and pulling them with her out the main doors to the school, leaving Louis behind. "I swear, that guy!"

"Hey, chill, Em. It's cool," Pascal assured, attempting to calm down his friend and secret crush. "How about we just get lunch and forget about the whole 'bro thing'?"

"Agreed," Mathéo chimed in.

"Okay," she sighed, "Let's go to my grandparents' bakery, then we can eat in the park outside of the school…I'm just so upset that he just up and ditched us like that! Has Aimee ever done anything like that to you guys before?"

"Our sister?" Pascal inquired, rubbing his chin, "Well, yeah. She's four years older so of course she'd always leave us in the dust to go hang out with her friends. Don't sweat it just 'cause Louis is older."

Emma nodded in agreement as the trio made their way to the Dupain-Cheng Bakery, arms linked together and smiles plastered on their faces.

* * *

"Oh, Emma, your grandma and grandpa make the yummiest meat pies known to man!" Mathéo cheered as he stuffed his face with the slice of pie. He and Emma were sitting at the edge of the fountain platform in the park and Pascal sat in the grass next to them. They all had gotten a meat pie to share and a bag of croissants for lunch.

"According to my schedule, Mathéo, we…have art together next period," Emma sang, nudging the brunet's shoulder, provoking a smile to tug at his lips. Pascal rolled his eyes at the two giggling over their next subject. "Our teacher is…" she squinted at the paper she pulled out of her back pocket, "…Mr. Kurtzberg?"

"Yeah, I hear he's new and apparently some juniors are gonna be in our class, too," Mat added with a cheeky smile, "I hear a certain Mr. Chiên Lé is one of those juniors," he cooed.

"Robin? Seriously?" Emma gasped as she brought her hands to cheeks and squealed. Pascal chuckled to himself as he looked up at his friend with bluebell eyes, pretending he wasn't affected by how Emma got so excited at the thought of Robin. "Oh no!" she shouted, thrashing about her arms and nearly kicking Pascal, who sat by her feet.

"What? What? What's wrong?" the boy in the orange hoodie yelped as he whipped his head around in a panic.

"I have to change my clothes!" she cried.

"Emma, baby, you look fabulous," Mathéo assured, flashing a friendly smile and making his warm brown eyes flicker with sincerity. "Tell her, Pasc," the brunet tapped his twin's shoulder, who sat below him, making Pascal nearly choke on the meat pie he had stuffed in his mouth.

"Wha?" he said with his mouth full. Mathéo gave him a knowing glare, nodded his head towards Emma, and mouthed the words 'tell her'. "Um," Pascal stammered, "You already look…pretty," he swallowed hard and looked away, blushing.

"You hesitated."

"Huh?" Pascal craned his neck to look at Emma again.

"You hesitated before you said I look pretty, which means you really don't think I look pretty, as in I need to change my outfit," Emma spewed out in a huff as she crossed her arms in irritation.

"N-No, I-I—Mathéo, tell her!" he jittered, smacking his brother's leg; alas, it didn't do anything…Emma was already freaking out about what she should wear to impress her crush.

"I know!" she spoke up, "I saw in an old school photo, my mom had this cute gray jacket. It would make me look mature… _enough_. Not to mention, it would match Robin's eyes," Emma added dreamily. She leapt to her feet and swung her backpack on her shoulder as well as grab what was left of her lunch and shove it in Mathéo's lap. "I gotta go now if I wanna make it back in time—see ya!" she hollered as she bolted out of the park and made a run for the Agreste Mansion, leaving the Lahiffe twins behind in the dust.

"You realize you have to tell her, right?" Mathéo lovingly chided as he scooched down next to where his brother was sitting.

"What? No! It'd totally ruin our friendship and-and-and…no!" Pascal remarked as he turned away from the brunet. "What if…what if she doesn't feel the same way and…what if she stops being my friend?"

"It's Emma, _our_ Emma," Mat assured, swinging his arm around his twin's shoulders, "I highly doubt she'd do anything like that."

* * *

"Mom?" Emma called as she entered the foyer, "I need your help! Please!" she cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone and shouted for Marinette. "Mom!"

"Emma? Why are you home?" Marinette asked as she met her daughter in the large, marble entrance room of the mansion. Her facial expression read calm but her voice was tense and full of concern. _Maybe she saw the news?_ Marinette wondered.

"It's kinda…chilly at school and I need a, uh, jacket," the brunette jittered, "Maybe the gray one I saw in a picture of you when you were about my age? It's got pink polka dots on it that would match my top, so I thought-"

Emma was cut off by Marinette's giggles that echoed throughout the marble foyer area. "Sure, honey. Try the attic, it might be in an old box or something…but be careful, it might be dusty."

The brunette glanced around, past Marinette and shifted her focus back to the blue-haired woman, an inquisitive look upon her face as she asked, "Is Dad home?"

"Not at the moment, he went down to the police station to check on something," Marinette replied warmly, but with a hint of worry laced in her voice.

"The police station? Why?" Emma questioned, Marinette's worry transferred to the brunette's at hearing those words from her.

"Because…" Marinette looked away impatiently, acting like she was on edge about something, but Emma couldn't figure out what it was, "I'll tell you after school, when your brothers are home, too."

"Oh, okay," Emma shrugged, a puzzled look wandered onto her sun-kissed face. "Thanks, anyway!" Emma bolted up the stairs and made her way to the back staircase that lead up to the mansion's attic room, leaving Marinette at the base of the steps sadly smiling as her daughter disappeared around the corner.

Emma hadn't actually been in the attic before, since she was told as a kid it was too dangerous and that bad things happened there. Of course, she was too young to know that their attic served as her grandfather's evil lair.

When she reached the top of the spiral staircase, she pushed open a big, heavy, white door that creaked as it opened. She timidly walked in to the large, dome-shaped room and saw the boxes and chests and furniture that littered the floor. Emma didn't need to turn on a light because the giant circular, butterfly-shaped window provided plenty of light on its own.

Emma's breath was just about taken away by the spacious room, probably because of the copious dusty boxes, but she was still awestruck by it. She made a mental note to visit the attic again, when she wasn't in a rush to find something.

The brunette had searched through several boxes and a chest of old clothing, but she didn't come across the jacket she was looking for. She wandered over to another trunk of what she assumed were clothes, and slowly lifted the hatch to the chest. Upon opening the wooden trunk, a small cloud of dust swirled around the air before dissipating, making Emma break into a short coughing fit.

There, lying on top, was the infamous gray jacket with a pink polka dot collar and cuffs. Emma grinned before reaching in to pull out the article of clothing, but something else caught her eye.

Amidst the old clothes neatly folded, there were two hexagon boxes—jewelry boxes was more like it—that were hidden under the gray jacket and wedged in between stacks of shirts and pants. Curious, Emma reached in and pulled out one of the two boxes, seeing it was a black with streaks of red as well as a red symbol on the top.

Without hesitation, Emma opened the box, revealing a pair of earrings…but not just any earrings.

"Pretty," Emma hummed to herself; only her musing was short-lived when a bright orb of pink light appeared before her eyes.

* * *

"So…" Louis began, unsure where his conversation was headed. He and Geneviève had just arrived at a quaint little restaurant about a block away from the school. "How do you like Paris?"

He opened the door to the restaurant for the brunette and the two entered, only to see the place was mostly empty—it was a tad unusual being that it was rush hour. Louis and Geneviève were immediately sat down at a table in the window. They sat across from each other at the window table with a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower.

"Paris beats Hollywood, that's for sure," she retorted with a smile, "I grew up there with my aunt, but she'd been teaching me French at the same time in preparation for when we moved here." Geneviève took the napkin that entrapped her eating utensils and unraveled the cloth, placing the fork and knife to the side and she put the white napkin in her lap.

"I don't mean to pry, but-" the bluenet was cut off by the olive-skinned girl.

"My parents divorced when I was two and neither of them wanted to take me, so my aunt did. She's my dad's older sister. I've practically grown up with her as my mom…you know, I think she'd like you."

Louis' green eyes grew wide and he stared at the girl in disbelief, wondering how someone could be so heartless as to abandon their child. He was warmed by the idea that she already wanted him to meet her aunt…maybe Geneviève liked him? Maybe as more than a friend?

"Yoo-hoo, earth to blue boy."

Louis broke out of his thoughts to see a slim hand waving in front of his face and a small smile split across the brunette's face. "Sorry, I was…thinking."

"No need to pity me for it," she remarked, leaning back in her seat and folding her arms, "I'm not a sob story."

"I didn't say you were," Louis smirked as he copied Geneviève's action of putting his napkin in his lap. "I'm sure my parents would like you, too. I don't know if you've heard of them…Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste."

Geneviève's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as she slammed her hands down on the wooden table, " _They're_ your parents?!" Louis nodded dumbly in response to her sudden outburst. The brunette's eyes lit up with child-like glee as she let out a soft squeal, "I'm wearing one of your mom's dresses! I mean, not _her_ dress, but one from her fall line—oh my gosh!"

"Heh, I guess you _have_ heard of them, then," Louis chuckled as Geneviève sank back into her seat.

"Yeah! I think my aunt went to school briefly with your parents…wow…" she mused, "Maybe this weekend or something we could all get together and let them have a mini reunion of sorts while we could…hang out."

Louis' face flushed bright pink as he gazed at Geneviève and noted the small blush that danced across her cheeks as well. He swallowed hard, enamored by her, and thought to himself, _I might actually have a chance with this girl…_

"I bet Lance would think you're cool, too. He's back in Hollywood still, so maybe we can video-chat later?" the brunette suggested.

"Is he your brother?" Louis asked.

"Lance? Oh, no, he's my boyfriend," Geneviève casually replied as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, "We're trying a long-distance relationship. I mean, we've been together for three years, so what's a few thousand miles?" She smiled brightly at Louis as he stared blankly at her, his face frozen in shock.

 _…and there goes my chance._

* * *

 **Ta-da! Updates might not be so frequent...maybe weekly? As I said before, I'm writing two fanfics at the same time, but I put "Miraculous Day" first (being that it's the one I wrote first), and there's still school. Let me know what you think in the reviews: what you like, what you don't like, what you want to see in the future, and any predictions you have for future chapters. I am** ** _very_** **open to suggestions! Until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	3. Chapter 3: Spots On!

Hello beautiful people! I am back with another chapter (a surprisingly quickly updated chapter) so that means the next update from me will most likely be for my other story. I wouldn't get used to these super fast updates, but I got so excited to write and post Chapter 3. I whipped this one up pretty quickly in the free time I had, so I hope you enjoy! :3

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

* * *

Marinette watched as Emma slipped around the corner and headed to the attic; she stayed at the base of steps and let her bluebell eyes wander around the foyer. Her gazing was interrupted when her phone buzzed in the pocket of her baby pink pencil skirt. The bluenette fumbled with her cellphone after she pulled it out from the fold in her skirt and answered it messily.

"Master Fu?" she squeaked, "What's wrong?" Her eyes intensified with worry, wondering why the elder Chinese man had called. He hadn't contacted her in years, granted, they had met up in person about two years ago to discuss when the Agreste kids would inherit the miraculous… but other than that, she didn't hear from Master Fu in a long while.

" _Marinette, I trust you have seen the news and know of Gabriel Agreste's escape from prison_ ," Master Fu said with a hint of concern in his tone of voice. Marinette nodded dumbly, but remembered that she was on the phone and that the old man couldn't see her so she spoke up.

"Y-Yes, yes, I know," she stammered, "But the moth miraculous is in your possession, so we're safe-"

" _I fear I have failed as the Great Guardian of the miraculous_ ," he cut her off, " _The miraculous were stolen, as well as the book. I still have the turtle miraculous, and Wayzz is safe; however, she forced me to give up the location of the others…especially the moth miraculous. She donned the fox and took the chest that held the bee and the moth, and just like that, was gone. I refused to tell her you have the ladybug and black cat, but she told me that would change soon—whatever that means. She may be targeting you and your husband._ "

Marinette's eyes grew wide and shock overtook her slim body, causing her to need to grip onto the handrail at the foot of the grand staircase. "Wait—you said 'she'. Who is 'she'?" she managed to utter, "Did this thief, this 'she', hurt you?"

" _No, no, but she did make a mess of my studio. I'm 211 years old, mind you, it would take more than what she did to hurt me. Her threats were valid, though, as she began to destroy my ancient possessions as well as threaten the lives of my descendants_ ," Master Fu responded on the other line.

"That's horrible…but _who_ _is_ 'she'? Someone you know?" Marinette warily asked, overwhelmed with worry.

" _She had dark hair—reddish-brown, and she had olive skin…about your height and build, maybe around your age as well. She had, uh, green eyes and…oh, yes, she said something about revenge_ ," the old guardian recalled. Marinette's eyes grew wide; she knew of only one person who fit that description: red-brown hair, olive skin, green eyes, similar age, height, and build, _and_ she put on the fox necklace…

"Lila," the blue-haired woman whispered in horror. She brought her hand to her mouth upon speaking Lila Rossi's name. _How? Hadn't she left Paris and moved to the United States of America?_ she pondered.

" _The akumatized girl who impersonated Volpina?_ " Master Fu inquired, " _Hm…I do believe you are correct. She was one of Hawkmoth's most difficult villains to defeat, but she still carries hate in her heart…especially after being his partner in evil for two years. I suggest you and Adrien become Ladybug and Cat Noir again to put an end to her villainy. Only this time, defeating Lila will not be as easy; taking the miraculous back would be—oh, excuse me, I have a customer. We will talk more later."_

Marinette was about to say 'goodbye', but the elderly man hung up the phone, ending the enlightening call. Just as she slipped her phone back in her pocket, the tall, front door swung open a sliver and a blond man came bounding in.

"Mari!" Adrien gasped. It looked as if he ran the whole way back from the police station; Marinette insisted he drive, but he was stubborn and walked several blocks there and back. "I found out how my father broke out. It was-"

"-Volpina," the bluenette finished as she sauntered over to the green-eyed man, a venomous look gleamed in her blue eyes.

"Yeah," he uttered, out of breath, "And she—hold up. How did know that? The police have yet to disclose that information to the public. They only told _me_ because he's my father," His bewildered expression would have made Marinette giggle, but this was too serious to joke about.

"Master Fu called. He said _Lila_ broke in and stole the miraculous; she took all of them except for the turtle bracelet, but she was looking for the ladybug earrings and black cat ring," she answered as she embraced her husband in a tight hug and buried her face in his shoulder.

"Lila?" he pondered out loud, "Lila Rossi?" Marinette pulled back enough so the blond could see her nodding with a petite frown cutting across her face. "Well…what do we do?"

"I don't know," she sighed as she rested her head on his shoulder once more, "You're all sweaty, by the way."

* * *

Emma had to shield her eyes from the blinding flash of light, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. She redirected her attention to where the light came from and her jaw unhinged as she stared agape at the creature that floated before her.

"Whoa…a fairy," Emma breathed as she reached out to touch the red bug-like entity hovering above the jewelry box.

"Fairy beats talking bug-mouse," she muttered under her breath before she slapped on a wide, friendly grin. "Not quite," she chirped loud enough for Emma to hear as she inched closer to the brunette, causing her to lower her outstretched hand.

Emma's eyes lit up with a light almost as bright as the pink orb the kwami emerged from. "Then what are you?" she mused, studying the ladybug creature.

"Emma, I'm here to help you become Ladybug," she smiled, throwing her arms in the air out of excitement.

"How do you know my-"

"I'm a magical being called a kwami. My name is Tikki. It's my job to help you transform into Ladybug," Tikki cheered as she zipped around Emma. The brunette jumped to her feet, dropping the jacket to the dusty floor, but she kept a tight grip on the open box containing the ladybug miraculous.

"Wow, this is so unbelievably cool!" Emma shrieked as she spun around in place. Then a puzzled look manipulated her facial features, "Wait…Ladybug? As in _the_ Ladybug? Me? But…but…why? How? I mean, my grandfather was arrested so why would the city need Ladybug? Isn't that why she disappeared?"

Tikki chuckled lightly to herself before speaking up to the girl, "This is fate at play here, Ladybug must be needed in Paris, and _you_ are the next Ladybug." Emma's intrigued face grew more interested, but also confused with a multitude of unanswered questions. Tikki must have read the girl's expression because she continued, "Fate has chosen you to wield the ladybug miraculous—the earrings. When you wear them, you become Ladybug. Since Hawkmoth is no longer a problem, I don't see why I'd need to explain how to battle one of his villains, but you should at least know what happens when you transform. You say the activation words, 'spots on', and your indestructible, magic suit will appear. I'm sure you know from the Ladybug before you that she had a yo-yo…you will, too. It's your magical weapon that serves as useful for many purposes. You also have a secret power called your lucky charm that can aid you in any tough situations. I won't elaborate on all of that now, though."

Emma blinked at the red kwami and watched how she danced around in the air and how her indigo eyes lit up with life as she briefly explained about her being Ladybug. She couldn't help but giggle at the ladybug creature before her and it made her forget her most pressing questions: how did the earrings get in her attic and what was in the other box?

"Wow," she breathed, "I'm flattered that I was chosen to be the next Ladybug, but…"

"But?" Tikki tilted her head to the side and confusion dented the black spot on her forehead as she furrowed her brows.

"But…I can't."

"What do you mean you can't? You are the chosen one to become Ladybug!" the petite kwami chidingly squeaked, "You finding the earrings is a sign that Paris needs you and you can't deny your destiny." Emma chuckled as Tikki flew about the attic and mumbling to herself saying things like, 'not again', 'she's just like her', and more.

"No, no," Emma corrected, waving her hands in front of her to calm the fired up kwami, "I mean I can't because, well, I don't have my ears pierced." The brunette sheepishly looked to the floor and scratched the back of her head with her free hand before nervously smiling back at magical being.

"Really?" Tikki dead-panned.

"My parents won't let me until I'm eighteen, so…yes, really," Emma hung her head in shame and she slumped her shoulders and hugged herself uncomfortably.

"Well," the kwami announced, zooming up to Emma's lightly freckled face, "We'll have to change that." As she spoke, a devilish grin spread across Tikki's mouth, making Emma cock her eyebrow and tilt her head back as she eyed the bug-like creature.

"I'm listening…" she hummed in response.

* * *

"It won't hurt that bad as long as you ice it long enough," Tikki piped up, breaking the tense silence. Emma was holding a cube of ice wrapped in a tissue on her left earlobe and Tikki held a sewing needle the brunette swiped from Marinette's office.

The two had decided to go to Emma's room, which was across the hall from her brothers', and now they sat at the foot of her twin bed. The four walls were so light a shade of pink that they almost seemed white, but were much warmer feeling. Emma's white desk lined the corner to the right of her bed which was pushed against the back wall, opposite her door. There was a large window above her bed which let in gobs of light in addition to the lamps on her two bedside tables. A dark pink swivel chair rested at the middle of the corner, 'L'-shaped desk and on a circular, gray rug that laid on top of her dark wood floors. There was a large, sliding-door closet to left of her bed and the entrance to her bathroom on the right. A reading nook with fairy lights draped over her bookshelf was in between where her closet and desk were against the wall. On the opposite side of the room, a hamster cage was displayed on a thin, floral, pink, blanket to the right of her bathroom door. Her cream-colored hamster, Cinnamon Roll, was sleeping in the woodchips by the wheel.

Emma shakily removed the ice from her ear and lowered her hands into her lap; she had her legs crossed Indian style and she fidgeted with the hem of her peasant blouse that poked out at the bottom of her tube top. The brunette trailed her eyes up to the floating kwami who gripped onto the needle.

"What if it turns out wonky or something?" she asked nervously.

"Don't worry, girly, I have a good eye a steady hand," Tikki assured in a soothing, motherly tone. Emma sucked in her breath as the red kwami inched closer to her left earlobe that awaited being impaled.

"But you don't have hands," Emma pointed out worriedly, trying to fight back the small smile that crept up onto her lips. Even though she just met her, Emma felt like she had known Tikki forever and she trusted her with her life…so the brunette, without hesitation, asked the kwami to pierce her ears for her.

"Well, I have steady paws then," the bug-like creature giggled, "This isn't the first time I had to pierce a Ladybug's ears…last time I think was in 1893…" Emma's eyes grew wide at hearing the magical creature—did she hear her correctly? Did she really say 1893?

"Whoa, wait, hold up," Emma interjected, shaking her head as she processed the words the kwami spoke, " _1893_? How old _are_ you?"

"I've been around for longer than you can imagine," Tikki sweetly replied, smiling brightly, "Now then, you have the earring ready?" Emma nodded as she held up one of the ladybug earrings. "Okay, here goes nothing!"

* * *

Emma stood in front of her mirror in her bathroom, admiring the way she looked in the black earrings. Tikki had explained that the earrings take on a black color and only turn red with spots when she transforms; Emma was happy that they at least went with her outfit when the miraculous wasn't activated.

"My mom is gonna kill me when she finds out what I did," Emma winced as she touched a hand to her ear. At the same time, she loved the look of earrings on herself and was happy that she did something rebellious—after all, it's for the good of her city.

"I have a feeling she'll understand," Tikki knowingly giggled.

Emma's phone chimed in the back pocket of her black shorts and she scrambled to pull it out. Displayed on her screen was a text from Pascal wondering where she was, causing Emma to glance at the time. She had roughly ten minutes to get back to class, which meant she had to leave immediately.

"I can't be late! I have to go—now!" the brunette shrilled. She rushed out of her room and down the hall, prompting Tikki to hide in her backpack as she descended the main staircase.

As Emma ran down the steps, she quickly gave Marinette a hug and kiss on the cheek as she ran by.

"You didn't find the jacket?" the bluenette inquired, squeezing her daughter back.

"Er, no such luck," Emma fibbed as she released the embrace she had her mother in. The she muttered under her breath, "But that's gonna change for sure." The brunette quickly turned to hug her dad who stood to the left of Marinette at the base of the stairs. "Hi, Dad! Bye, Dad!" she squeaked, pulling away from the rushed hug and darting out the door.

"Bye…" Adrien surprisingly responded, "…Em," he finished as the teenager disappeared behind the now-closed front door.

Emma hurried down the steps and when she got to the sidewalk, she booked it to the high school. However, as she was running, a _VROOM_ followed by panicked screaming whooshed past her. A car was zooming down the street at high speed and the driver, a middle-aged woman, was screaming about how the breaks weren't working. Emma snuck behind a dumpster and opened her backpack to let the red kwami fly out.

"I guess you were right about Paris needing Ladybug," Emma frantically gasped as she crouched down lower behind the dumpster. "We've gotta do something! What were the words…spots on?"

As soon Emma voiced the words, her miraculous flickered and Tikki popped into the earrings, turning them red with five black spots. A wave of pink light swirled around her as her normal clothes were gone and a ladybug suit stretched across her. Ladybug's suit was the same red with black spots as the Ladybug before her, only her suit was black from her toes to her knees, ending at a point where the red continued; the same solid black went from her fingertips to her elbow in the same pointed ending until the red and black spots continued up her arm. Apart from her lower legs and forearms, the rest of Ladybug's suit was the traditional ladybug-print with the red and black-spotted yo-yo tied around her hips.

As for her mask, it was fashioned in the style as the previous Ladybug's, but the top of the mask continued up her forehead so none of her face was visible other than her blue eyes and the lower half of her sun-kissed face. Her hair was down and freely flowing, the ends of her brown locks bounced around her shoulders. Excluding her long bangs, a red ribbon was tied around the top of her head and the loose ends of the ribbon, where it was knotted at the base of her head, flowed from under her hair. Ladybug looked down at herself and ogled over the new suit that replaced her clothes.

"This doesn't look like the old Ladybug's suit," she spoke up, "Tikki?" Emma was about to look around for the kwami who was nowhere to be seen when she heard more screaming down the street. "Okay, okay, I got this. I'm Ladybug," she told herself as she gripped the yo-yo and detached it from her hips.

Swinging the yo-yo at her side, she launched the red object above her and it latched around the building-above-her's chimney. Ladybug gave it a tug before being sent flying into the air and onto the building's roof.

"That could've been more graceful," she muttered to herself, regaining her balance. "Alright, where did that car go?" The spotted heroine spun her head around before catching a glimpse of the speeding car. "There you are."

Ladybug continued to leap across rooftops, occasionally using her yo-yo to propel herself forward. She hopped down from a building when she caught up with the runaway car and was just meters behind chasing after it. Ladybug failed to notice how other bystanders whipped out their phones to record the scene and take pictures of the spotted heroine appearing.

The red-clad girl hesitated a moment before flinging her yo-yo and wrapping it around the car zooming away in front of her. She successfully secured the yo-yo around the car and dug her heels into the ground as she started to get dragged along with the car downhill. Tugging back as much as she could, Ladybug yanked the string back and slowly pulled the car to a halt.

As soon the car stopped, Ladybug retracted her yo-yo and caught it in her black, gloved hand and she ran up to the driver's door. The brunette swung the door open and helped the shaken woman out of her car.

"L-Ladybug?" the middle-aged woman asked as she stepped away from the car.

"Uh…yeah, that's me," Ladybug sheepishly replied as she guided the woman to the sidewalk. "Are you okay, ma'am?"

"Oh, yes," the woman jittered, "My breaks…they wouldn't work a-and my car wouldn't stop! Thank you, thank you so much, Ladybug! I'm so happy you're back!"

"You're welcome, but I'm not the same-"

Ladybug was suddenly surrounded by the citizens on the sidewalks and was bombarded with camera phones shoved in her face. She made heard a multitude of questions regarding her being Ladybug, coming back to Paris, and where Cat Noir was.

"I, uh, sorry, but I gotta go," the superheroine stammered, realizing she was beyond late for class now, "Um…bug out!" Ladybug spun her yo-yo around before aiming, tossing, and securing it around a building and swinging away from the crowd.

* * *

 **Well there you have it! I wonder what will happen next...just kidding, I have literally the entire plot planned out ;) Anyway, please take the time to review about what you like, what you don't like, what you want to see happen, and any predictions you have for future chapters. I love to read what you guys have to say! Until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	4. Do What You Love

Hello beautiful people! Okay, so this isn't an actual chapter...APRIL FOOLS ( _sort of_...I mean, I know I'm a day late and a dollar short.) But I still think you should take the time to read this little message I have for you! :3

* * *

Writing has been a passion of mine for a long time. I love to write my own stories and I have written two original books so far with a third in the making. Of course, I haven't published/posted them... _yet_. Fanfictions are the first thing I have _ever_ posted for people to read other than my family and close friends.

In the past, my English teachers have always been greatly impressed with my writing, whether it be for a literature essay, creative writing piece, or a research report. They have told me I have a future in writing and that my words can affect the world for the better; that they will send out good messages for others in the world to read. Keep in mind, this was coming from...let's see...at least six English teachers and several teachers in other subjects over the (few, because I'm only in high school) years.

However, this year, my English teacher told me she _hated_ my writing and she has been biased when grading my work. She said verbatim my writing is immature and that I won't pass my honors English course because of it. She told me directly that my writing style is like that of an elementary school student. This is the first time in all of my (few, again, because I am young and in high school) years that I met someone who disliked my writing to such a high degree. And so, this year I have received nothing above a 'C' grade for a writing piece/essay/research report in my current English teacher's class.

I believe I am a decent writer and I love that fact that I can express my thoughts and feelings through the words I put on paper (or in this case, on computer.) Even though my teacher's words hurt me, I let her negative opinion roll off my shoulders. Why should I let one sour judgement mess with my mind and lead me to believe her words about me and my writing are true?

My main message here is: **Do not let others' hurtful thoughts and opinions decide what you do and how you do it.**

If it is your passion, maybe it's writing, then do _not_ let people's spiteful comments affect how you accomplish said passion. Just because my teacher believes I'm not good enough and that I lack the skill and talent to write, doesn't mean I let her define me.

 _I_ love to write, so I write. _I_ believe I am a good writer, so I write. _I_ enjoy creating new ideas for stories and books, so I write. My writing style doesn't have to be loved by all, but since _I_ love it, I write.

I hope all you beautiful people receive, understand, and apply my message to your lives.

* * *

 **Okay, so because this wasn't a chapter in my story (sorry to disappoint) because of my late April Fools prank, I think you know what comes next...double chapter, baby! Woohoo! But, it may come a bit later than normal, you can't rush creativity. Plus, there's school and...well...school. I hope you all had a great April Fools Day yesterday! If you pulled any pranks, let me know in the reviews-** ** _one of your pranks might end up in this fanfic ;)_** **That's all for now, PLEASE hear my message to you guys, I feel like it would help a lot of aspiring writers like myself and those of you with other passions in life. Until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	5. Chapter 4 & 5: Claws Out!

Hello beautiful people! OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS! Whoa, it's been almost three months since I technically last posted an actual chapter...whoops...but I've been mostly focusing on school and, when I had time, my other story, "Miraculous Day". Now that it's finally summer vacation and I have internet again, I finally was able to write Chapters 4 and 5 of this story because...well, it's been like three months... Anyhoo, enjoy the long awaited double chapter! :3

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

* * *

Emma landed gracefully in an alleyway across the street from the school and dropped her transformation. Her heartrate slowed ever so slightly as she staggered back and took several deep breaths.

"That was…" she gasped, "AMAZING!"

Tikki twirled around the brunette and danced in the air before floating in front of the teenage girl.

"But remember, no one can know I exist," the kwami voiced.

"So, not my best friends? Or my brothers? Not even my parents can know?" Emma inquired. She knew they were all trustworthy people, but she didn't want to put them in danger for knowing her identity.

The bug-like creature's facial expression faltered, as she looked like she was in a heated debate with herself. It was probably best that Emma didn't find out her parents were the previous wielders the same day she became the new Ladybug. Satisfied with her conclusion, Tikki shook her head at the blue-eyed girl's hopeful questions. "Nobody must know."

Emma smiled sadly and nodded her head in defeat. She had read enough comic books to know that a superhero never reveals his or her secrets…or is that magicians? Same difference to her, she just knew that she had to protect her loved ones by protecting her identity.

The lunch bell sounded, distorting Emma's face into one of frantic worry. She raced across the street, dodging cars with her newfound reflexes and heightened senses. She swore she heard a man yell, 'this isn't real life Frogger', but she wasn't completely sure.

"I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" the brunette cried, "I _can't_ be late! I've never been late before and I won't be late now!"

After she raced up the stairs and bolted to her locker to grab her backpack for Tikki to hide in, the Parisian teenager booked it to the art classroom. She burst through the door, panting heavily, and was met with over a dozen pairs of eyes staring at her. Emma caught a glance of Robin sitting in the second row next to a blonde girl, but he seemed too busy talking to her to acknowledge the brunette's presence.

"Glad you could join us, Miss…" the teacher broke the silence but had to check his clipboard for her name, "Agreste?"

Emma nodded cowardly, looking shamefully into the lean man's teal eyes. Without another moment of hesitation, the Parisian teen carried herself over to the empty seat Mathéo reserved for her in the back left of the room.

"What happened to the infamous gray jacket?" he whispered with a glint of playfulness in his eyes.

"Uh, didn't find it," she shrugged in response as she sat down and pulled out a sketchbook.

"So you pierced your ears instead?" Mat countered whilst fighting back his laughter. Emma shot him a look immediately following his comment, "Girl, you should know by now how observant I am."

"Yeah, whatever," she pouted and folded her arms. At this point, she wasn't listening to Mr. Kurtzberg talk about his class policies, and frankly, she didn't mind. It was always the same set of policies for every teacher, anyway.

"What's that matter, Em? You all down in the dumps for being late for the first time in your life?" the brunet in glasses cooed.

"Haha," Emma retorted sarcastically, "By the way, what's up with the art teacher? He seemed kinda weird around me back there…" She nodded her head in the direction of the red-haired man who continued lecturing about his classroom rules.

"Mr. Tomato Head?" Mathéo joked, "He went to school with our parents and had a thing for your mom…I'm pretty sure he still does being that he doesn't have a wedding band." Once again, Emma gave him a look, only this time it was one of bewilderment. "Observant, remember?"

"Mr. Lahiffe…and _Miss Agreste_ ," Mr. Kurtzberg began sternly, but softened his tone of voice when he spoke Emma's name, "Do you have something to share with the class?"

"N-No, sir," Mat stuttered, his cocky confidence draining under the teal stare of the art teacher.

"I see," the red-head replied, then he faced the brunette, "Um, Emma, h-how's your m-mother?"

And in that moment, a devious idea came to Emma's mind. "Oh, she's great. Yeah, she and my _dad_ are happily married." The frozen expression on Mr. Kurtzberg's face was priceless; a light red tint took to his cheeks and he moved his mouth to say something in response, but no words came from his silent stammering.

"Oh my God, Emma Agreste, that was…oh my God…" Mathéo managed to whisper between laughter, "Are you _trying_ to get on his bad side?"

"I'd rather that than him end up with him trying to 'win over my mom'," Emma deadpanned as she crossed her arms. She took out her 2B pencil and sketchbook from her backpack and laid them out on the desk in front of her to match Mat's setup. "Okay, now that that's that, what are we doing?"

"I think we're starting with drawing from observation, but I'm not entirely sure. I wasn't paying attention to what the teach was saying and instead, wondering where your little booty was because, honey, you are never late. Even if you somehow died, you would still make it to class either on time or early. So what happened?"

"I…there was…I, um…." Emma could feel the sweat droplets roll down her back and sides of her face. Was it just her or was it getting hot in the classroom? "I got caught up in this car trouble stuff on the way?"

"Okay…I'm not buying it, but okay," the brunet joked, offering a cheesy grin which warmed Emma's heart.

"Any news from Mr. You-Know-Who?" Emma cooed, wanting to change the subject as quickly as possible from her tardiness.

"Fabrice? He hasn't really really reached out since our dinner date—again, great idea—but he's good, we're good," the boy in glasses smiled as he started to draw some lines in his notebook. "What about Pascal? I mean, how would you describe you and Pascal?"

"What do you mean by that?" Emma asked, not looking up from her drawing pad as she started to sketch as well, "If you're trying to get me to pick a favorite between you two, that's pretty juvenile…I love you both equally, you guys are _both_ my best friends, okay? So don't go trying to get me involved in your silly sibling rivalry, go it?"

"No, that's not what—never mind," Mathéo brushed aside his friend's obliviousness.

His plan to find out what Emma thought of Pascal beyond their friendship obviously wasn't working with her. In fact, Emma had to be one of the most oblivious girls when it came to love, including her own crush. The brunette was so blinded by her love for Robin that she didn't realize what a jerk and a player he was.

"Alright," she shrugged, "Now, hush up, I'm trying to concentrate." Emma flashed the brunet in glasses her signature toothy grin to symbolize her joking manner. However, that only gained her a playful shove from Mathéo, which she in turn responded by sticking her tongue out at him before the two got back to work on their still-life sketches.

* * *

Marinette sat at her desk as she flipped through the layout of her upcoming fashion line. She thought of her work as a breather, of the sort, from the hectic day she and her family had so far. It wasn't everyday she learned her father-in-law escaped prison with the help of a black-hearted woman seeking revenge on God knows what. The bluenette didn't usually think of work as a way to relax, but in this case, it was the only thing that could truly distract her from the chaotic events that unfolded around her earlier. Well, almost all of them.

On her television screen, Marinette had the news station on just in case there was an update about Gabriel. Plus, it also brought a smile to her face to see Alya reporting live from the streets of Paris. However, the blue-haired woman was not prepared for the next headline to pop up: 'Ladybug Returns?'.

Marinette's bluebell eyes widened as she stared in disbelief at the amateur cellphone video being played on the television. It was of a brunette in a red and black-spotted spandex suit and mask with angular, black details.

"Adrien! Adrien!" she called out from her office as she practically jumped to her feet. Within seconds, the blond came bolting through the door with a panicked look drawn into his facial features as he ran up to his wife.

"Mari! What is it? What's wrong?" he hastily asked as he grabbed ahold of the petite woman's shoulders and staring deeply into her sky orbs.

Marinette said nothing in response, only stared agape and pointed at the television screen which continued to play the video on a loop. Her husband soon matched her flabbergasted expression as they stared in shock at the Ladybug who tugged on the runaway car with her magical yo-yo.

"But…how?" the designer quietly voiced, "How is there a Ladybug? She would have to have gotten the miraculous…the miraculous _you_ were supposed to hide all those years ago." Marinette turned from external pondering to pointing an accusatory finger at the blond. His emerald eyes grew surprised as he held his hands up in defense.

"I did hide them! I hid them under some old clothes in this trunk in the attic, I swear!" he panicked under the hard, bluebell glare Marinette gave him.

"You hid them in the—oh my God," realization struck the bluenette like a lightning bolt, "Emma." Marinette felt her knees go weak as Adrien helped her sit back down in her swivel chair at her desk.

"What about Emma? Marinette, babe, please…tell me what's wrong," Adrien cajoled as he rubbed circles on the backs of his wife's slim hands.

"Emma…she was looking for my old jacket so I sent her up to the attic to find it…oh my God, I thought she was acting a bit strange when she came back down…I mean, after all that time up there, you'd think she found it? I'm such a dorkasauraus! In fact, she probably _did_ find that stupid jacket but just-"

"Mari, you're rambling," Adrien chuckled, causing Marinette to freeze mid-sentence and flash a weak smile back at him. Her grin was short-lived as it was replaced with worry glazed over her bluebell eyes.

"Adrien, that's Emma— _our_ Emma—out there. She has the earrings, I just know it. Adrien, our daughter is the new Ladybug," Marinette managed to voice, but her somewhat cheery tone faded as her face grew dark and fearful, "…and a target for your father."

* * *

"Whoa! Have you seen this?" before Louis could react, a smartphone was shoved in his face. There was a video playing on the device of a girl clad in a red suit and pulling a car to a halt by way of a…was that a yo-yo?

"Henri, who is _that_?" the bluenet asked, but he didn't take his eyes off of the screen. How could he? Louis simply had to know who this beautiful stranger in a mask was—that is, if she was even real. For all he knew, this was a clip from a movie about a superhero or something.

"Louis Agreste, you don't recognize the spots on that chick?" the dark-skinned boy joked as he pressed one hand on Louis' desk. He wore a pair of baggy jeans and a pastel green shirt that had a brand logo on the top, left pocket. Henri's black afro was pulled up into a bun that poofed out on the top of his head and had big, brown eyes as well. He was about the same size and build as Louis, but a little leaner in comparison. Henri leaned over the blue-haired boy's shoulder to continue watching the video clip with him.

"Wait, you mean she's _the_ Ladybug?" Louis gasped as he stared more intently at the screen.

"Nah, man, my moms sent me the link…according to them, this is a different Ladybug from when they were in high school. The hair and costume and all that jazz is slightly different, plus this chick's probably about our age from the looks of it," Henri said very matter-of-factly.

"Whoa…" the bluenet breathed as he hit the 'replay' button as soon as the video ended, "Your moms both knew the first Ladybug?"

"Just from being akumatized way back when," the black-haired teen responded, "Yeah, I think it had to do with mirrors and perfume, but I never really payed attention to the details they told me about it."

Louis' emerald eyes remained glued to the superheroine in spots as she danced about the street, flung her yo-yo again, and yanked the string back to stop the runaway car. He was sure he found his soulmate…and he didn't even know her, just saw a measly video of her. But either way, he knew in that moment he had undeniable feelings for Ladybug and all he would ever be able to think of from that point on would be Ladybug…in fact, he didn't even remember having a thing for Geneviève. Who was Geneviève? As far as Louis knew, Geneviève was a small speck compared to Ladybug, to…to…to his lady.

The bluenet didn't know how, yet, but he would find a way to reach this red-clad heroine and profess his newfound feelings to her.

"I wonder why a new Ladybug just popped up out of nowhere, though…" Henri thought aloud, "Maybe it has something to do with your gramps breaking out of jail?"

"Wait…WHAT?!" the blue-haired boy cried as he leapt from his seat in the back of the classroom. Honestly, he didn't care how much attention he drew to himself, he didn't care as long as what Henri said was true.

"Y-You mean you didn't hear?" the black-haired boy stammered. Louis shook his head dumbly in response as his jaw hung open and the final bell rang throughout the school. "Oh, man, I gotta bounce. By the way, my seventeenth adoption day is this Saturday at noon at my place, let me know if you can come!"

"Sure…and thanks for telling me about my grandfather," Louis smiled as Henri bolted down the aisle and out the door. The bluenet gathered his belongings as well as he made his way to the exit, relieved the first day of hell was finally over. Oh, but boy was he going to talk with his parents when he got home.

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

* * *

"Adrien, I don't like the idea of Emma swinging over the streets of Paris like that," Marinette voiced, " _Especially_ now because Lila broke your father out of prison and he has the moth broach again!"

"Marinette, calm down," Adrien soothed as he knelt down by the bluenette's side, "She'll be fine out there."

"We agreed on eighteen. Is she eighteen? No! Adrien, I don't think I like this…maybe we should wait…" the designer added, still feeling distressed.

"We were her age when Master Fu chose us to wield the miraculous, Emma is responsible and will be safe," the blond man warmly remarked. He lifted his hand to brush Marinette's bangs out of her eyes before planting a kiss on her forehead. "Besides, she has Tikki to guide her, too."

"Okay," Marinette sighed in defeat, "But I still don't like her being alone as Ladybug. Even though I could have handled the job, myself, I still liked having you around with me."

"Hey," Adrien countered playfully, "I'll have you know I took many hits for you, M'Lady, saving your spots countless times. _But_ , I know what you mean…do you want me to get the ring and suit up? That way I can watch over for her, too."

"No, Emma needs a partner, not her father," the blue-haired woman said whilst deep in thought.

"What about one of the boys? Maybe Hugo?" the blond man's lips stretched into a comforting smile across his face.

"No, no, no…Hugo's too young, he's only thirteen…" Marinette mumbled, "I guess that leaves Louis?"

"Sounds _purr_ -fect, Princess," Adrien hummed, "I always wondered what a blue-head would look like in the suit." The blond winked at his wife as he popped off of the floor and rose to his feet.

"What did I say about cat puns in my office?" the bluenette joked as she pecked Adrien on the lips before he exited the room to retrieve the black cat miraculous.

* * *

Louis raced home without looking back to answer the bewildered shouts from his peers. He clutched his book bag in one hand, hugging it to his chest, as he bounded down the sidewalk. The bluenet made a sharp turn on the upcoming corner as he passed his grandparents' bakery and continued to his family's mansion.

Finally, Louis reached his destination, panting, and burst through the main doors. He threw his bag on the cool, marble tiles of the foyer and dashed into the living room. Louis was surprised to find his siblings and parents having a seemingly pleasant conversation. Emma sat in one of the two chairs, Hugo sat in the other, and Marinette and Adrien sat side by side on the couch across from the two chairs. He figured they didn't know about Gabriel's escape from prison.

"Oh, Louis, I was just wondering where you were. Your father and I-" Marinette rose from her spot next to Adrien on the sofa, setting her mug down on the coffee table, and began walking towards her son, but was abruptly cut off by him.

"Did you know Grandfather broke out of jail?!" Louis screeched, practically fuming with anger and hurt. He could see out of the corners of his emerald eyes that both Emma and Hugo's bluebell eyes widened with horror.

"What?" Emma voiced as she pushed up off of the chair. _Looks like Tikki was right about Paris needing Ladybug…_

"Yeah, I found out from Henri…did you know about this, Mom? Dad?" the blue-haired boy turned to Adrien, who wore a worried look upon his sun-kissed face.

"Your mom and I…we were going to tell you when the three of you were together, we were waiting for you to get home," Adrien calmly spoke as he turned to each of his kids.

"Well, it's a good thing Ladybug's around to protect us," Louis folded his arms and shrugged.

Emma sucked in a quick breath as her face paled and her eyes widened further. She moved her mouth, but no words came out as she struggled to say something.

"L-Ladybug? How would you know about there being a Ladybug?" the brunette stammered.

"You haven't seen the video? Apparently it's all over the news…Henri showed me that, too. I guess he thinks there's a new Ladybug because of Grandfather's escape, but I think that's what his moms said, too," the green-eyed boy responded.

"Oh, I haven't chatted with Rose and Juleka in a long time, right, honey?" Marinette turned her head and smiled warmly at her husband, who nodded in agreement.

"There's a video?" Emma questioned, staring into her brother's emerald eyes as she grew somewhat sick to her stomach. She should've known people would take pictures and videos of her—why else would everyone have their phones out as she stopped the runaway car?

"Yeah, I saw it, too," Hugo voiced as he rose from his seat to stand by his sister. He was about her height, but still a few inches shorter being that he was two years younger than her.

Hugo ran a hand though his blond hair that was styled similarly to how Adrien wore his hair when he was younger. Adrien often joked about how Hugo looked like a carbon copy of himself, but with Marinette's freckles and bluebell eyes. All three of the Agreste kids had the same sun-kissed skin and freckles, each resembling certain traits of their parents. When Emma was born with brown hair, they figured it was recessively passed down from Marinette's father, Tom; especially since Louis was born with midnight locks, and Hugo with golden-blond.

"Can you believe it, Hugo? Ladybug, _the_ Ladybug, is in Paris and is gonna battle Grandfather!" the bluenet cheered excitedly as he bounced with glee towards his baby brother, who seemed rather unimpressed.

"Since when did you become such a fangirl, Lou?" the young blond chuckled as he playfully punched Louis' shoulder, "But I agree, Ladybug is going to kick Grandfather's butt, then put him behind bars!"

"You mean kick his _butt-_ erfly!" Emma laughed to herself as the room fell silent, all eyes on her. The young Parisian froze in place as her family eyed her. "'Cause…'cause he's Hawkmoth again…and, you know, butterflies?"

Marinette was first to roll her eyes and groan at her daughter's remark as Hugo and Louis spewed out comments such as, "Seriously, Em?" and "That was terrible."

All the while, Adrien had been choking silently on his chuckles before erupting into a booming laughter that filled the living room. He leapt from the sofa with such enthusiasm and sprung over to his blue-eyed daughter and gave her an energetic high-five. Emma became tickled with how much she made her dad laugh and she, too, giggled along with him.

"And _that_ is how I know you're my daughter!" he boasted, his laughter spilled from his lips in a never-ending flow of giddiness.

As the father and daughter continued to snicker, Marinette and her two sons looked from one another in irritation at the pun Emma fired out like a silver bullet. Louis especially hated that kind of humor, and his mom would often sympathize with him about it. Hugo had to be in the mood to enjoy a good pun…but when you have a dad and sister than constantly tend to spew out puns at random, in can get unbearable.

"Anyway…" Louis spoke up after vocally clearing his throat to grasp everyone's attention—which included silencing the pun off going on in the background between Adrien and Emma. "As I was saying before, I'm so pumped that Ladybug is back! I mean, I know she's not the same one, but still! WAIT! I know, like, nothing about her! What'll I do?"

Marinette stifled a giggle rising in her throat as she rested a hand on her frantic son's shoulder.

"I think your Aunt Alya's blog about me— _Miss_ Ladybug is still up on the internet somewhere," the blue-haired woman offered after catching, then correcting, her slip-up.

Louis nodded, a look of relief washed over his face, as he smiled at his mom. The teenager glanced form face to face of each of his family members before nodding and running up to his room. Marinette and Adrien shared a look as they watched their eldest son and child dash away. A small smile cracked at the blond man's lips, causing Marinette rolled her eyes…both knew what was coming next.

Louis bolted up to his shared room with his brother that was practically dip-dyed in blue. It still held elements of when it was Adrien's bedroom, the biggest difference being that there were two twin beds and more video games littered the bookshelves than books did on the upper level. Also, by Louis' bed was his acoustic guitar on its stand and by Hugo's bed was his junior chemistry lab set-up.

The bluenet plopped himself down in his swivel chair at the multiple computer monitors and pulled up the tab of Alya's old Ladyblog. As he speedily read through the blurbs of Ladybug facts and drank in the old pictures of the heroine, he caught sight of something to his right on the desk.

Louis peeled his emerald gaze away from the computer to study what appeared to be a hexagonal box. He poked it with his finger cautiously, wondering what it was and where it had come from. Carefully, he lifted the lid of the jewelry box to be met with a silver ring. Only, the blue-haired boy was soon blinded by an orb of green light shining above the open box.

A black cat-like creature soon appeared when the light faded. The cat entity yawned and stretched some before curling back into a ball, still hovering above the ring.

"Come on, five more years…" he sleepily groaned.

Louis couldn't help but stare with wide eyes at the black and aubergine… _thing_ …before him. Finally, realization hit him that what he was experiencing was not a dream, but, very real.

Out of nowhere, Louis shrieked, his voice shrilled and echoed throughout his room as he backed away to leap onto his bed. He shakily pointed a finger at the cat creature as his face paled.

"Cat!" he screamed, "In my room! Floating cat!"

"Keep it down, will ya?" an annoyed voice sounded from the black cat, "Kwamis need their beauty sleep, too."

"It speaks!" Louis screeched, "Talking demon! Help-"

"Okay, that's it!" the kwami cut him off as he zoomed up to the bluenet's face, "I don't need all of Paris knowing I'm here."

"I hate cats," Louis shuddered as he eyed the kwami in fear, "I'm allergic and they just…freak me out."

"That's ironic…and a first…anyway," the flying cat kwami rolled his viridescent eyes and scoffed as he then peered at Louis, "You the Agreste kid?"

Louis nodded, not making a sound and not taking his eyes away from the entity before him.

"Louis or Hugo?" he asked flatly, looking the boy over from head to toe. He took note of his stance and how he was still frozen in place of fear.

"L-Louis," Louis answered with a stutter.

"Okay then, Lou—can I call you 'Lou'? I'm gonna call you Lou," the kwami spewed out almost too quickly to understand, "Here's the basic run-down: The name's Plagg, I'm a kwami, I'm hungry, and I grant magic powers."

Louis continued to stare in disbelief at Plagg, trying to find his voice as his mouth moved soundlessly. "I-I-I…wha…huh?"

"What part of 'I'm hungry' don't you get? Yeesh, humans have _definitely_ not gotten brighter," the black kwami crossed his arms and sighed, "You got any camembert? Cheese is the only delicacy suitable for my stomach."

The blue-haired boy held his bewildered gaze on Plagg as he took himself for a fly around his room. He heard him mutter to himself about how the room looked drastically different from twenty-five years ago. Louis was about to question the kwami about his side-comment, when a panicked scream sounded from down the street.

"Great…Hawkmoth's already released an akuma," Plagg scoffed, clearly unimpressed. He hovered over to the window, dramatically staring out over the streets below.

"Aku- _what now_?" Louis asked, "Wait, I think I saw that on the blog-"

"I bet it was Chloe Bourgeois…that bottle-blonde bi-" it was the cat-like kwami's turn to be cut off by his new chosen.

"Chloe Bourgeois? The old mayor's daughter? She's been in jail for five years, I think…sentenced to life behind bars after driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Apparently she hit a guy—he survived—but because of her history and countless other charges on her rocord, she'll be behind bars for…like…ever."

"Serves that devil-spawn right," Plagg snickered as he turned back to look at Louis.

The petite cat flew over to the young Parisian, stopping a little bit before his emerald eyes. He stretched once more before rubbing his tired eyes, brushing his whiskers as he did so.

"The world is kind," Plagg mused before returning his attention to the blue-haired teen, "Just slip that ring on, say 'claws out', and we can be on our way."

Louis did as he was instructed by the kwami and jumped down from the bed to slide the silver band onto his left, index finger. However, he hesitated before continuing in saying the phrase Plagg told him to.

"I still don't know what's going on…or if this is even real," he scratched the back of his neck nervously as he looked to his feet, then back up at Plagg, who studied his every move.

"Kid," the black cat-like creature started, "You're the next Cat Noir."

* * *

 **Yes! We are finally getting to what I initially had the idea of with this story! Pay close attention to every detail: characters, locations, etc. because I will have a lot of nods towards season 1 of Miraculous. I have no idea when the next update will be, I just know the next update I will be making will go to "Miraculous Day". When that will be...within the next few days...probably ;)**

 **Thank you so much for your continual support and I am so happy you like the premise of this fanfic! Please be sure to leave a review about what you like, what you don't like, what you want to see happen, and any predictions you have for future chapters. If you have any questions regarding anything about this story, be sure to private message me :)**

 **Until next chapter, toodles! :D**


	6. Chapter 6: Crusher

Hello beautiful people! O. M. Goodness! I feel simply horrible for taking so long to update, but between a nasty case of writer's block and a busy summer schedule, I've had a harder time getting anything posted. I hope you all enjoy this chapter! :3

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

* * *

Louis' jaw dropped to the floor as he stared in shock at the floating cat before him. First, Ladybug made a reappearance in Paris, then there was a freaky creature that literally 'poofed' into his life, now he would be responsible for the reappearance of Cat Noir? It was only his first day of junior year and he already had so much piled onto his plate. This cat kwami, this Plagg, pretty much just screamed in the bluenet's face that he was officially a superhero and tasked with leading a double life—things like that didn't just happen every day.

"Cat Noir? Me? _The_ Cat Noir?" Louis repeated Plagg's statements as questions out of disbelief. Heck, there was a talking cat-thing hovering in front of him and he _still_ didn't believe the events that had just transpired.

"Kid, you didn't tell me that you're partially deaf…" the black cat kwami retorted dryly, "So let me spell it out nice and loud for you: You, Cat Noir! You, superhero! You, save Paris from Hawkmoth! You, kick bad guy butt with Ladybug! You-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait up…Ladybug? I get to meet Ladybug?" the blue-haired boy's green eyes lit up with such glee, like a child who just found out he or she can experience his or her wildest dream. "I get to fight with Ladybug! This is gonna be so—oh no, I don't know how to fight! When I throw a punch, the worst I can do is knock out a butterfly…"

Plagg seemed to take a bit too much delight in his new chosen's worrisome antics, in fact, he found it all rather amusing. Yes, this new kid of his would be _much_ more amusing than Adrien had been.

"Actually, that works," Plagg remarked, delving into thought about Louis' self-degrading. A crash sounded from not far away, causing the cat-like creature to snap back to his original train of thought. "Lou, what're you just standing there for? Say 'claws out' then _get out_ there!"

Louis fumbled with the silver band around his forefinger as he became at war with himself. In his brain, he went back and forth in a heated debate about whether he should do as his kwami said or not. In the end, his morality won…of course he had to protect his city from the likes of his grandfather, he wouldn't leave Ladybug to fight whatever akumatized victim was out there by herself.

"Okay, okay…just breathe, Louis…you got this…Plagg?" the nervous teenager looked to the flying cat who gave a supplementary nod of his head, causing his whiskers to bounce, "C-Claws out."

The ring flickered with light, then turned to black as Plagg was sucked into the miraculous, all the while vocalizing his hatred of the process of activating his.

"Wait! I forgot to tell you about-" before the petite kwami could finish his cry, he was completely absorbed into Louis' ring and a flash of green light engulfed him.

The bluenet had to squint his eyes to shield them from the almost blinding flashes of light and jolts of electricity. When the green luminosity faded, Louis shot his emerald eyes open. He had never felt such a rush of adrenaline before—it was like all of his senses were heightened, surpassing his norm. He figured that with these heightened senses, came amazing reflexes and perhaps the ability to move in ways he couldn't have before.

Cat Noir decided that before taking his leave to the battlefield, so to speak, he had to at least look himself over in the mirror, so casually the bluenet casually made his way to the bathroom he and Hugo also shared. Imagine his surprise when he saw himself clad in black with completely green, cat eyes.

His suit resembled the Cat Noir's before him, in that there were black cat ears on his head, the same boots, same gloves—claws would be something he had to get used to, of course—and belt tail at his hips. He didn't recognize what material his spandex-like suit was made from, however it looked somewhat familiar to what he saw in Ladybug's suit on the blog.

The major differences that he could easily pick out were the black shoulder, elbow, and knee pads with silver details that had that seemingly clung on to nothing, just rested over those joints. Cat briefly wondered to himself if they would hold up in the fight or not. Instead of a golden bell at his suit's flared collar, there was a silver bell. But, there was also his mask…it was just a generic, black mask that came to a point at the tip of his nose, but it also came down the outer sides of his cheeks in two points on either side all the way down to his jaw. Cat Noir's guess was that the four points were meant to emulate whiskers on a cat. The only thing that bugged him about his alter ego, was the fact that the long hair on top of his head seemed longer and more wild, like he just rolled out of bed and messed it up even more. He wouldn't dare let anyone see him with his hair as such a catastrophe…but heroes must make sacrifices.

Cat Noir gave a curt nod at his reflection, still not completely used to his new appearance, especially his cat-like eyes. Without hesitation, the cat-boy pushed open his bathroom window and slipped out to crawl down the side of his family's mansion.

* * *

As soon as Emma had heard the shriek from outside, she made up an excuse—a pretty lame excuse that her parents surprisingly bought—to remove herself from the room that Hugo, Marinette, and Adrien occupied. She had dashed to her room to transform into Ladybug immediately following Tikki's brief run-down on how to fight and deal with an akumatized victim as well as going into detail about her lucky charm and miraculous clean-up spell. The petite, red kwami made sure to drill into her chosen's head the importance of her secret identity and the fact that her miraculous will time out once she uses her special power.

Now, Ladybug stood above the scene of what appeared to be a boy with hammers for hands destroying whatever he could reach. He was clothed in metallic-looking spandex with a chrome bowtie, had copper skin, and black hair spiked up at least a foot high in every direction. She tried her hand at thinking up several ways to defeat him and purify the akuma, taking note of his weaknesses…for one, he moved rather slowly. Finally, the akumatized victim stopped in his tracks and yelled out for all of Paris to hear.

"Where is Fabrice?!" he cried with a venom-dipped tongue, "You dump me for Paul?! You crushed me so now I'll crush you!"

Ladybug's eyes widened as she felt a knot in her throat, fighting back tears to see what had become of her friend. She leapt down from the building top, with assistance from her yo-yo, to the street littered with demolished cars, sidewalks, store fronts, and more.

"M-Mathéo?" she voiced, unsure if that… _thing_ …was her lifelong best friend.

"I'm not Mathéo anymore, I'm Crusher! My boyfriend decided to dump me the day after our three-month anniversary…well, I guess I should say _ex_ -boyfriend now," Crusher boomed with fuming anger. A glowing, butterfly shape outlined his steel eyes as he went silent, as if listening to someone. "Hawkmoth wants those earrings of yours, so hand 'em over, bug!"

The spotted heroine was taken aback by the cruelty of Crusher's words, it was the polar opposite of the Mathéo she knew and loved. _Grandfather_ , she bitterly thought, but that pause to spite her grandfather made an opening for the metallic boy to strike her with one of his large, hammer hands.

Ladybug was sent flying back and smacked into a brick wall behind her, leaving a pretty big dent and cracks. Surprisingly to her, though, the pain was nowhere near as bad as she would've expected. Not only that, but her suit remained unscathed after the impact of the blow that hit her.

She popped up off the crumbled sidewalk and ran her fingers through her free-flowing, medium-length hair. She then adjusted the ribbon that was tied around her head before brushing her long bangs back, only for them to fall forward again. Ladybug was ready to go all gangster or something similar on Crusher, but she looked up to see she was alone in the demolished street.

For the most part, the civilians had fled and or hid away from the danger, but that didn't mean the metallic boy wouldn't cause destruction and mayhem in other parts of the city. The red-clad girl unhooked her yo-yo from her waist, ready to swing off, when a voice stopped her. She was sure that all civilians had left the area, but the figure running towards her said otherwise. Once he got closer, she was able to identify ears and a tail on the teenage boy bounding over.

"Ladybug!" he called, flagging her down until he finally reached her as a panting mess. As if his blue locks couldn't look any more scruffed up.

"Let me guess…you're my Cat Noir?" she joked, reattaching her yo-yo and extending a friendly hand to the black-clad hero.

" _Y-You're_ Cat Noir?" Cat gasped in response, gently taking her hand and placing a kiss on the back of it.

As if the action didn't faze her, Ladybug pulled her arm back and placed both hands on her hips in a defiant pose. She smiled brightly before giggling at her new partner.

"Well, I would imagine you'd be my partner…how many cat-boys are out there roaming the streets of Paris?" the brunette countered, a smirk playing at her lips.

"G-Good point…heh…um, sorry for being a bit late to the fight, I ran here as fast as I could," Cat Noir stammered as he rubbed the back of his neck as a blush tempted to play at his cheeks.

"You…you ran here? Like, by foot—or should I say, paw?" Ladybug questioned before contorting her face into one of false confusion and, in a joking manner, continued, "Why didn't you use your staff?" The spotted heroine pointed to the silver baton resting above Cat Noir's belt tail and stifled her laughter at his genuinely confused face.

The blue-head whipped his head around and snatched the cylindrical weapon he didn't realize he had. He studied the staff before bowing his head in shame; Ladybug found it amusing that his cat ears also drooped as if they were real.

"Are you kidding me right now? I must look really stupid right now," the green-eyed hero mumbled as he crossed his arms, still grasping onto the baton.

"Nope, not _kitten_ you, but I'd _stick_ to that mode of transportation in the future," Ladybug quipped, pointing to the silver staff and struggling to swallow her impeding laughter at her own pun.

Cat absolutely hated puns, that was true, but he didn't want to get upset at Ladybug like he did his sister and dad. Such actions of disinterest and utterances of annoyance would never win over her beautiful, bug heart.

"Heh…that was…good, I guess, funny…heh," the feline hero attempted to hide his cringe at the bad joke, but his white lie made her eyes light up with joy. Fortunately for him, Ladybug remained oblivious to his stiffness of trying to compliment her rather unimpressive humor.

"Well, let's get to purifying that akuma!" Ladybug smiled in return, "What do you say, _partner_?"

* * *

Ladybug and Cat Noir were on the move, chasing after Crusher across the rooftops. Since the red-clad heroine pointed it out, the cat-boy had used his staff to help propel himself forward—likewise, Ladybug used her yo-yo. Crusher had made his way to the park and had scared all civilians who previously were there, so now the space was empty. However, the empty park was no less safe from the akumatized victim's wrath.

The spotted girl landed just outside the gates to the park and crouched behind the mailbox, and Cat Noir soon joined her after. He started to get up but was stopped abruptly when a tug on his tail pulled him back behind the yellow box.

"Okay, we need a plan to save Mathéo," Ladybug asserted as she brushed her long bangs out of her face.

The blue-haired hero began to nod his when he shook it suddenly and his emerald eyes widened in disbelief. His jaw dropped as he looked to and from his new partner and Crusher, who was causing chaos and destruction.

" _That's_ Mathéo?!" he cried and dramatically pointed an accusatory finger at the akumatized victim. Ladybug nodded and smiled sadly when Cat Noir spoke up again, "Wait…how do you know-"

"Uh, no time to explain!" the brunette cut him off, "We have to go help!"

The two young heroes agreed and raced into the park, weapons in hand, as they approached the metallic boy thrashing his hammer hands around in a frenzy.

"Hey, Crusher!" Ladybug called out from across the park, capturing his attention. The akumatized victim turned to face them and started to slowly walk towards them. "Let _metal_ you something! We're gonna kick your shiny butt!"

Cat Noir rolled his eyes at the spotted heroine's pun and verbally groaned, too, making the girl with bluebell eyes squint at him. He was quick to flash a cheesy grin and let a fake chuckle slip past his lips, which made Ladybug smile in return and nod her head in appreciation. Once their little exchange ended, the two jumped into fighting stances.

Crusher, who started out in a slow-moving stroll, burst into a slower-paced jog and was gaining on the duo. He raised his large, metal, hammer hands in the air, ready to smash the teenage heroes to pieces. It was pretty clear that Hawkmoth had instructed him to seize the pair's miraculous.

"Hawkmoth wants that fancy jewelry of yours…it clashes with your superhero getup anyway," Crusher quipped as he still ran towards the pair, "Hand them over!"

Ladybug was quick to whip out her yo-yo and swing it around as a shield in front of her. Cat hesitated a moment before copying the red-clad girl with his baton by twirling it around; he was still impressed that the stick extended into a full-length staff for him to use. Both Ladybug and Cat Noir's eyes grew panicked as they realized how close Crusher was getting to them.

The two teenagers performed a tuck and roll in opposite directions to the side in order to avoid the oncoming attack. Rather than bashing the miraculous holders, Crusher demolished the ground where they once stood.

Ladybug, however, didn't intend to dodge the entire battle, so she hooked her yo-yo around one of Crusher's hammer hands and tugged it towards her. She realized her mistake when he started to swing his hammers at her. As the brunette struggled to hold down her akumatized friend, she noticed the chrome bowtie around his neck and how it was really the only similarity between regular and akumatized Mathéo.

The wheels turned in her head as she pieced together what her kwami told her about how akumas work. Naturally, her instinct told her the cursed butterfly was in her best friend's bowtie, and so her bluebell eyes widened with realization. Ladybug cocked her head up to yell to her partner about how to defeat Crusher, but the metal boy had other plans.

Before the spotted heroine even had the chance to call out to Cat Noir, she was pushed off and chucked at the fountain in the middle of the park. She hit the statue, causing it to crack, and landed in the water. The spotted heroine popped up and shook her head, her damp locks and ribbon swaying as she did so. Ladybug surveyed the area and watched Cat Noir fight off the akumatized victim as she thought of a way to save Mathéo.

"Mathéo!" a voice called from behind Ladybug. Curiously, the brunette turned her head to see none other than Pascal running towards the battlefield. "Mathéo!"

The teenager in the orange hoodie dashed up to the fountain and stopped when he saw Ladybug standing in the water, staring at him with worry.

"Pascal—I mean, _kid_ …that I don't know…what are you doing here?" the red-clad girl asked him, furrowing her brows.

"My brother…his boyfriend just broke up with him to be with this other dude…Mathéo got really upset about it…then, next thing I know, he's this metal guy and calling himself 'Crusher' and he's doing… _that_!" Pascal frantically pointed to the akumatized boy as he thrashed around, destroying park benches, trees, pathways, and more, all while battling it out with Cat Noir.

"Well, that's good to know," Ladybug spoke to herself aloud before whispering, "Poor Mathéo." The brunette lifted her eyes to meet Pascal, his face etched with worry and fear for his twin. "You need to get out of here, Pasc—uh, _past_ the park…yeah, just run right past here and don't look back. Cat Noir and I will save Mathéo."

"Look, lady," Pascal began with a hint of irritation in his voice, "I get that you're trying to play hero and all, but that's my brother out there. He doesn't need some rookie, little girl on her first day—I saw the news, I know you're not the same Ladybug…so don't go acting like you know what you're doing. We need a real hero to save my brother, not some 'wannabe' and her newbie partner."

The blue-eyed girl felt tears stinging in her eyes, so she turned away from her best friend—her best friend that started to make her cry with his venomous words. But she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing the new girl's salty streams run down her freckled cheeks. No…instead she would put on her brave face and _be_ Ladybug.

"Listen up," Ladybug whipped her head around with an element of power, " _I'm_ Ladybug now, whether you like it or not, and _we_ are the only ones who can save your brother. Yeah, it's mine and Cat Noir's first day on the job as Paris' heroes, but we're Mathéo's best chance here. If you can't give him his best chance at being saved from Hawkmoth, what kind of brother are _you_?"

Pascal staggered back a few steps and looked to his feet, as if conversing with himself on what to do. Finally, the brunet trailed his eyes to look back at Ladybug, but the annoyed glint in his eyes remained. He mumbled something that the red-clad girl couldn't make out, but it resembled something along the lines of 'fine'. Ladybug breathed a sigh of relief as she watched her friend backing away from the scene slowly before stopping at the gates.

"By the way, _lady_ ," Pascal spat as he started to step out of the park, "You look like a soaking mess."

Ladybug looked down at herself standing in the fountain and grunted before lifting her head to sneer at the brunet. However, by the time she did, he had already dipped out and left behind his echoing snickers. Yes, Pascal was a _real_ confidence booster for the red-clad heroine, alright.

Ladybug shook her head free of the thought that her best friend just practically laughed in her face and called her a joke. She focused back on the fight and how Cat Noir had been thrown around, but now laid in a heap of black and silver by a tree. Crusher had made his way to the other side of the park, destroying all he could get his hammer hands on.

"Cat Noir!" Ladybug shouted as she jumped out of the fountain and ran to him, "Cat Noir, oh gosh, um…Cat Noir? Hello? You okay?"

She didn't receive any response from the blue-haired cat-boy, so she thought, _Why not just do to him what I do to get Louis up in morning?_ Without thinking it over anymore, she held his chin in place and lightly hit his cheek. Still no response. _I guess I have to hit him harder?_ She lifted her red-gloved hand and slapped him across the face.

Cat Noir's emerald eyes snapped open as he howled in pain, clutching a claw to his cheek where there would surely be a red hand-print. As if he didn't get beat up enough by Crusher, now his partner was slapping him around, too? Why, she was just as bad as his sister to be beating up on him.

"Ow!" Cat cried as he sat up stiffly, "Why would you do that?!"

"You wouldn't wake up?" the brunette offered weakly in return.

"Couldn't you have, I don't know, poured water on me or something?" the cat-boy whimpered as he cradled his face.

"I didn't think cats liked water," Ladybug giggled as she helped her partner to his feet.

"Yeah," Cat Noir began, "Well, we don't like getting hit in the face either."

The crashing sounds from across the park alerted both teenage heroes as they pivoted their heads around to see Crusher doing what he did best: crushing things. Ladybug thought for a moment, then turned to face the bluenet.

"Did you use your special power yet?" Ladybug inquired.

"My what?" he asked in full bewilderment.

"Your…what's it called…I think my kwami said your power is your cataclysm," the brunette nodded as she touched a finger to her chin.

"Cataclysm?" Cat Noir questioned. As soon as he spoke the word, an orb of light appeared around his right hand and black bubbles soon engulfed it. The blue-haired hero gaped at his hand, wiggling his fingers in slow-motion as if what he saw wasn't real. "This is so-"

"Look out!" Ladybug cried as a park bench came flying at the two teenagers.

Cat Noir raised his clawed hands in front of his face as Ladybug leapt to the side and used her yo-yo as a shield. The blue-haired hero's hands touched the bench, nearly catching it before it crumbled to pieces and fell in a pile before his feet. Cat's emerald orbs widened in shock, replaying in his mind how he destroyed the bench with a single touch as it came barreling at him. He figured Ladybug would be just as impressed with his newfound power, but when he turned to smile at her, she pouted and rolled her eyes as she folded her arms.

"Okay, I get that was self-defense and all, but you just totally wasted your one shot with your special power," Ladybug punched the bridge of her nose and shook her head, "Now you only have minutes before you turn back."

"Wh-What?!" The black-clad hero shrieked as he stared at his hand, now lacking the black bubbles, and then at his partner. He felt a shiver go down his back and winced at the fact that he just embarrassed himself while looking like an idiot. _There goes my shot at impressing her_ , he thought _._

"Don't worry just yet," Ladybug asserted as she began twirling her yo-yo at her side, "I still have a few tricks up my sleeves—er, gloves—uh, sleeves with gloves—um, spandex? No, that sounds weird… _the point is_ , I still have my special power."

The superheroine launched her red and black-spotted weapon in the air as she called out, "Lucky charm!" A trail of ladybugs circled around the yo-yo's string as they climbed up to the highest point where a cluster of red and black burst into a trickle of light. Following the scatter of ladybugs, an object fell from the sky and landed in red-clad girl's open palms.

The sudden weight of the red and black-spotted, summoned object in her hands caused Ladybug to almost drop it. The brunette fixed her blue eyes on the oversized polka-dotted magnet entrapped in her dainty fingers. The red-clad heroine lifted her head and pivoted it around as she surveyed the area for an idea of how to use the given tool to defeat their foe.

"Um...does this magic stuff expect me to fight off Crusher with a magnet?" Ladybug turned to face her feline partner with a dumbstruck face.

The blue-haired superhero pondered on the spotted girl's remark and his mind melted into one of intense thought as he, too, scanned the scene. As if a lightbulb went off above his head, he snapped his fingers and grinned widely before pointing across the way where the akumatized victim started slowly making his way to the park's exit.

"Where did you say the akuma thing is?" Cat Noir asked with his hands on hips.

"I was thinking the chrome-looking bowtie around his neck," the superheroine answered as she tried to match her partner's train of thought and where he was going with his strategic question.

"Well, what are the chances that bowtie is magnetic?" the cat-boy smiled as he faced Ladybug in a proud stance for figuring out how to use the lucky charm item provided for them.

"If it _is_ chrome, then it should be…that way we can break the object, capture the akuma, and purify it!" Ladybug squealed, giddy with the idea of saving Paris for the first time. Their plan was full-proof, so the duo was excited to successfully be heroes of their beloved city. "I must say, I'm _attracted_ to this plan. Get it? 'Cause magnets...and attraction..."

"I get it," Cat Noir rolled his eyes, but not so obviously that Ladybug would see...if she thought he liked her puns, then she might like him back.

The bug and cat team shared a nod before running off in separate directions to sneak up on Crusher. Ladybug kept a death-grip on the large magnet as she snuck around the back side of the boy with hammer-hands whilst Cat kept the akumatized boy occupied.

"Hey! Over here, you walking necklace charm!" Cat Noir jumped up and down and hysterically waved his hands about to capture Crusher's attention. The bluenet's method proved successful when an enraged metallic boy began jogging towards him, screaming incoherent words.

As Crusher drew nearer to Cat Noir, Ladybug charged at her akumatized friend with the red and black magnet an arm's length in front of her. Crusher didn't even have time to react as the magnet pulled the chrome bowtie off from around his neck, for he was so slow-moving. As the akumatized object flew through the air, Ladybug reached up and caught it before it could fulfill the path it wished to follow to the magnet. Frozen in shock of his sudden defeat, Crusher fell to his knees and buried his face in his enormous, hammer-shaped hands.

Once the brunette's slim fingers wrapped around the chrome bowtie, Ladybug took the liberty of ripping the metal-lined fabric in two. The akuma radiated negative energy as it squirmed itself out of the object it had inhabited. Ladybug watched in awe as the creature began to flutter away, mesmerized by how the eminence-winged insect traveled a small distance before her.

"How do I capture it?" the spotted heroine inquired to herself as her bluebell orbs trailed after the akuma.

"I saw a video of the old Ladybug throwing her yo-yo at it," Cat piped up from beside his partner in crime-fighting, equally eying the dark-winged butterfly.

"If you say so…" Ladybug hummed as she unhooked her yo-yo from around her waist and chucked it at the butterfly without a second thought.

"Not like that!" the blue-haired hero screeched before collecting himself to add in a calmer voice, "I-I mean, you might wanna hold onto the string…instead of just throwing your weapon several meters away."

The brunette face-palmed as she cursed her mistake under her breath and gathered her red yo-yo from the grassy carpet it rested on. Her second attempt at purifying the akuma went more smoothly, mostly because Ladybug actually encased the black butterfly with her miraculous-given weapon and engulfed it in white light. The red-clad heroine caught her yo-yo in her gloved hands and opened the outer-most shell of the device, creating a window for a pure white butterfly to float out and ride the winds above the pair of teenage heroes.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm thinking that little guy _butterfly_ far away and not transform anyone else," Ladybug quipped as she victoriously placed her hands on her hips.

Cat Noir was too enamored with the sight of the brunette standing dominantly that he completely ignored her crack at a joke. His jaw would most likely come unhinged and his mouth would catch flies as a result. The bluenet didn't mind, however, because being in the presence of this beauty made him feel close to careless about everything else around him.

"Okay," Ladybug sang, snapping Cat Noir out of his thoughts, "My kwami told me how to clean up this mess…" The spotted heroine picked up the magnet she'd previously dropped to the sidewalk and tossed it effortlessly above her head while she shouted, "Miraculous Ladybug!"

The red and black magnet dissolved into several clusters of ladybugs that swirled about the city in different directions. They erased all evidence of Crusher's damage to the copious streets and buildings throughout Paris, lastly restoring the park to its former glory.

Crusher remained on his hammers and knees when an aura of inky black lifted from his person, leaving Mathéo in Crusher's place. Confused, the boy in glasses perched himself on his feet and practically bounced up off of the ground. He rubbed his head before lifting his hazel eyes to scan his surroundings.

"Wha…what happened?" the brunet questioned, drawing the heroes focus over to him.

"Nothing _that_ bad," Ladybug assured as she placed a hand on Mathéo's shoulder, "You were, um, akumatized…but don't worry! Everything is fine now thanks to Cat Noir and I."

The cat-boy smiled over Ladybug's shoulder at the disoriented boy and meekly waved at him, fearing that the brunet would recognize him. As it turned out, Mathéo seemed to have no idea who was under Cat Noir's mask, since he just smiled and said a simple 'thank you' to him.

"Oh, and by the way, Mathéo, your brother should be outside the park over there," the blue-eyed girl pointed past the gates where she directed Pascal to exit. Almost instantly, Mat scurried away from the superhero team of two and slipped past the gates, merrily shouting his gratitude on the way out.

"Nice work there, Spots," Cat Noir shyly commented, causing the red-clad heroine to spin her head around and look him in his cat-like eyes.

"Spots?" Ladybug giggled back.

"Sorry," Cat ran a claw through his messy, blue locks and sheepishly stared at his boots, "I probably should've run that nickname by you first."

"No, I like it," the brunette smiled before a lopsided grin twisted her lips, "It doesn't _bug_ me at all, Rum Tum Tugger."

"Seriously?" the black-clad teenager deadpanned and folded his arms.

"You should take what you can get, Thackery Binx," Ladybug joked, "I'm gonna need more time for your nickname."

* * *

 **Wow...that had to be the longest chapter I've ever written that wasn't a double chapter. I always struggle with fight scenes (especially painting the picture vividly for my readers) so that was part of the reason why it took me literally three weeks on this chapter alone ;) Should I have broken this chapter up? Probably. Do I regret making such a long chapter, though? Heck to the no.**

 **I want to thank all of you who have followed and or favorited my story- it simply warms my heart! If you would also take the time to review about what you like, what you don't like, what you want to see, or any predictions you have for future chapters, that would be amazing of you. I love reading what you lovelies have to say.**

 **Until next chapter, toodles! :D**

 **(P.S. Let me know in the reviews as well if you have any other pop culture "nicknames" for Cat Noir...let me know if you get the two cat references, as well!)**


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